Harrisburg City Council during a legislative session on Tuesday
Without a city engineer, many of Harrisburg’s construction projects aren’t able to move forward, and for months, that position has sat vacant.
However, on Tuesday, Harrisburg City Council voted in favor of filling the position, not with a person, but with temporary services from Lower Paxton Township-based Dawood Engineering.
The administration explained that Dawood will serve in the position for up to a year, while the city continues to seek out a qualified candidate for the role. However, according to city Business Administrator Dan Hartman, the job notice for the position, although previously posted, was taken down. After a request from council to repost the position, Hartman said that the city would have the listing published again by Wednesday.
The agreement with Dawood sets the price cap for its services at $150,000.
Wayne Martin served as the previous city engineer, but left his position in November.
According to Isaac Gaylord, deputy city solicitor, the city is required to have a professional engineer sign off on many of its construction projects. Dawood will fill that role, which the city has been missing for months.
While council approved the contract with Dawood, many members voiced concern over not having a professional engineer on staff.
“I implore the city to continue their search for an engineer,” said council member Westburn Majors. “As a city that has a lot of projects and will have a lot of money coming through it over the next four to five years, it is going to be incumbent upon us having someone on staff, full-time to be able to handle the work.”
In other news, council approved the re-development of a vacant property, formerly the Taproom bar, at 1402 N. 3rd St. The vote was 5-2, with council President Danielle Bowers and council member Jocelyn Rawls voting against the project.
Sean Linder and his Bethlehem-based investment group, SJL Rentals LLC, plans to renovate the 4,000-square-foot, three-floor building to include five apartment units and a first-floor commercial space.
Linder said that he plans to rent the one- and two-bedroom units for around $850 to $1,300 per month. After receiving questioning from council about whether he will designate any of the units as affordable, he said he would consider it.
However, both Bowers and Rawls explained their opposition to the project by objecting to the fact that Linder’s current plans did not include what they deem to be affordable housing.
“Given the range of rent that he shared, I’m not confident that our residents would be able to afford to live in any of these units,” Bowers said.
Also on Tuesday, council approved a bill to allow virtual public participation in city council and board meetings.
“This bill comes out of the realities that we’ve all seen come out of the COVID pandemic,” explained City Solicitor Neil Grover at a previous council work session.
The bill allows for council to make a virtual option for participation in meetings, but does not require it.
According to Director of Information Technology Steve Bortner, providing virtual access would require significant technology upgrades and purchases and may take time to get up and running.
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